KKP's TSOAT RP System PvP Add-On Version 1.0


A few people have raised their eyebrows at my insistence on the use of the honor system with TSOAT players, or Students, as I like to call them. The whole point of the game is to help Students grow and improve on a daily basis, but growth and improvement is a very personal thing, and is measured differently for each person. For one person, personal growth and improvement looks like completing their To-Do list for the day, while for another, it's learning a new skill or improving the one they have, while for yet another, it's ensuring they've spent time with loved ones instead of working all day. It is not my place to dictate what growth and improvement looks like for a person, nor to monitor and manage their goals for them, and so I feel that Students should take charge of their own Character Sheets to monitor themselves. Of course, this leads to the obvious question of, "What's to prevent a person from cheating?"
The answer is nothing. Nothing is preventing a Student from cheating. They can max out all their stats and curb stomp enemy NPCs and make all their DC rolls in quests made specifically for TSOAT. And if that's what gives the Student enjoyment, that's their business.
That said, they would seriously be missing the point of the game. As I said, this is a game of growth and self improvement. Maxing out all the stats without working for it would defeat the primary purpose of playing TSOAT. But if that's what a student decides to do, then that's what they decide to do.
When it comes to Player vs Environment (PvE) gameplay, where the Student is working through quests that they themselves have paid for, it is not my place to say how a Student decides to enjoy TSOAT. Of course, I'd also like to think that Students of TSOAT are mature adults who don0t need micromanaging. I feel it's an insult to have to put measures in place in a growth and self improvement game to prevent cheating. My belief is that Students of TSOAT are better than that.
However, a potentially cheating Student does pose issues for Player vs Player (PvP) gameplay, where Students pit themselves against each other in duels and tournaments in a test to see who is the better combatant. And I must admit, this is a legitimate concern. No one wants to play with a potential cheater.
But how is one to determine whether or not a Student has earned their character ranks honestly? One can't. As such, instead of dueling with personal Character Sheets, I recommend that Students duel with agreed-upon, predesigned Character Sheets meant for PvP use.
This can be done on any scale. On a personal scale, two Students who wish to duel can have ready pre-built Character Sheets specifically meant for dueling. They would allow the other Student to inspect the Character Sheet, then once the Character Sheet is approved, the inspecting Student can then copy and paste the stats onto a notecard they, themselves, have made, make it no-modify, and hand it back to the originating student. The originating student would then insert the new notecard into their HUD, and they'd be ready to go.
On a public competition scale, such as for tournaments, tournament officials can hand out no-copy and no-modify Character Sheets to participating duelists. Simple
In conjunction with these measures, duelists and tournament officials can request that the duel participants use an add-on I've made for the TSOAT RP System. This add-on consists of an additional script to include in the HUD, a Titler object that works with both the original HUD script and the additional add-on script, and a Reset Button that the Student can use to reset the add-on script to update the Titler. This new Titler will still display the Student's HP and EP, but it will also now display the name of the creator of the notecard that the Student has equipped in their HUD, as well as the permissions status of the notecard for the Student. This way, everyone can be assured that the duel participants are using the appropriate Character Sheets for the duel.
This should do much to deter most would-be PvP cheaters. No "anti-cheat system" will ever catch 100% of all cheaters. Truly determined individuals can and will find a way around measures put in place to prevent cheating. That's just a fact. The best anyone can do is simply make it so that the majority of players are kept honest, and be alert to those few players determined to skirt the system. My hope is that my efforts to curb PvP cheating are enough to ease concerns so that TSOAT can be enjoyed by all types of players, while still remaining true to its original intent.
Hoping you enjoy TSOAT,
KeeperS Karu
aka TheKeeper of Keeper's Krew Productions
See item in Second Life- Add-On Script For The Main TSOAT HUD
- A New PvP Titler Object
- A Reset HUD For The Add-On Script